Dr. Cady Short-ThompsonDr. Cady Short-Thompson

Dr. Cady Short-Thompson, dean of Blue Ash College of the University of Cincinnati system since 2010, has been appointed provost at Hope College.

Short-Thompson’s leadership responsibilities as dean are comparable to that of both president and chief academic officer at an independent liberal arts college. It is broad experience that Hope College President John C. Knapp noted will serve Hope and its academic program well.

“We’re pleased to welcome Cady Short-Thompson to the Hope College community,” Knapp said.  “She has a stellar track record, and I am confident Hope will benefit greatly from her leadership.”

Selected through a nationwide search, Short-Thompson will begin in her new role at Hope on August 1.  She has also been appointed a professor of communication at the college.  In her current position she holds appointments as a professor of communication and affiliate professor of political science.

“I am overjoyed to join Hope College and feel honored to play a leading role in continuing the traditions of excellence in a rigorous and engaging liberal arts education strongly grounded in the Christian faith,” she said.  As the daughter of a United Methodist minister and a former church youth group director herself, she noted that she prizes the opportunity to combine her lifelong Christian faith with her passions for scholarly teaching and inclusive, student-centered leadership in higher education at Hope.

UC Blue Ash College has 5,500 students in 50 academic programs, and 720 faculty, staff and student employees.  Short-Thompson’s service there has ranged from increasing emphasis on experiential education via internships, service-learning, off-campus study and collaborative faculty-student research; to leading and managing the faculty and staff; to guiding development of new academic programs and review of existing programs; to overseeing facilities planning and renovation; to fundraising and managing the college’s budget; to building public-engagement programs such as partnerships with area schools.  She has served on numerous university system-wide boards and committees, including chairing the Diversity Council, Presidential Task Force on Title IX Administration and Council of Deans.

Prior to becoming dean at UC Blue Ash College, she was an award-winning communication professor at Northern Kentucky University for 13 years, serving as graduate program director from 2005 to 2008 and chair of the Department of Communication from 2008 to 2010.

Short-Thompson’s scholarship includes multiple articles published in refereed professional journals and book chapters.  She has also made numerous presentations at national conferences.

During 2014-15, she was one of only 24 fellows named to the inaugural cohort of the year-long Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership.  She has also received honors including a 2016 Women of Influence Award from Venue Media of Greater Cincinnati, a 2015 Distinguished Staff Award from the University of Cincinnati Foundation, recognition by the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati in 2014 as a Woman of the Year finalist in the Nonprofit Organization Category and being named 2004 City of Wyoming (Ohio) Citizen of the Year.

Short-Thompson graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor’s degree in communication in 1991, and completed her master’s degree in communication and an interdisciplinary doctorate in political communication at the university in 1992 and 1997 respectively.

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About Hope College 

Hope College is a four-year, co-educational, undergraduate, residential, Christian liberal arts college of 3,200 students from 40 states and 28 foreign countries.  Hope offers majors through more than 50 departments leading to a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. 

Hope’s beautiful and well-maintained campus is located just steps from award-winning downtown Holland, Michigan. Proudly affiliated with the Reformed Church in America since the college was founded in 1866, Hope is known for its ecumenical Christian atmosphere. 

Hope is recognized as a national leader in undergraduate research and scholarship, and for providing exceptional professional preparation and life-changing experiences in a friendly and welcoming community. The college has consistently ranked among the nation’s top liberal arts colleges and is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives.” Key to Hope’s success is its rare combination of rigorous academic programs and a community life grounded in a relevant, inviting and vibrant Christian faith. 

Hope College is strong financially, with more than 40 consecutive years of balanced budgets, an endowment of approximately $200 million and no deferred maintenance, and more than $92 million invested in the construction of new facilities during the past decade. The college completed construction on its newest buildings, the Kruizenga Art Museum and the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, in 2015, and in August 2017 will open the Jim and Martie Bultman Student Center.